Political Wire

Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!

Impeachment Is Not the Answer

May 30, 2019 at 9:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Frum: “Right now Trump is fighting on many fronts to suppress many investigations of many different forms of alleged wrongdoing. He must plug more holes in the dike than he has fingers. But submerge all those many stories into one big question—“remove or don’t”—and the impeachers will have to focus their energy on the most salient allegations. The battlefront will narrow, and as it narrows, the unity of the executive branch will confer a tactical advantage on even a weak presidential defense over the fissiparous offense in the House of Representatives.”

“Impeachment at this point is all but certain to end in Trump’s acquittal in the Senate… It will change only if new real-world facts materialize—either legal facts (evidence of other crimes) or political facts (a collapse in Trump’s support in the country).”

“A Trump facing impeachment will rally reluctant Republicans to him, with the argument, so effective for Bill Clinton in the 1990s, Even if he did something wrong, it does not merit removal from office.“

Impeachment Would Freeze the Democratic Race

May 30, 2019 at 8:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “By the way, if you wanted a taste of what the 2020 Democratic presidential race might look like if Congress does go down the impeachment rabbit hole, you got it yesterday after Mueller’s statement.”

“The 2020 field took second (or third) stage.”

“Impeachment most likely would relegate the Dem race to the backburner and freeze the contest until afterward.”

Hard Drives Reveal Details on Citizenship Question

May 30, 2019 at 8:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Thomas Hofeller achieved near-mythic status in the Republican Party as the Michelangelo of gerrymandering, the architect of partisan political maps that cemented the party’s dominance across the country,” the New York Times reports.

“But after he died last summer, his estranged daughter discovered hard drives in her father’s home that revealed something else: Mr. Hofeller had played a crucial role in the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.”

“Files on those drives showed that he wrote a study in 2015 concluding that adding a citizenship question to the census would allow Republicans to draft even more extreme gerrymandered maps to stymie Democrats… The disclosures represent the most explicit evidence to date that the Trump administration added the question to the 2020 census to advance Republican Party interests.”

Russian Interference Is the Biggest Red Flag from Mueller

May 30, 2019 at 8:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “As everyone continues to parse Robert Mueller’s words from Wednesday — ‘It’s time to impeach!’ ‘Trump is exonerated!’ ‘Congress needs to do its job!’ — most politicians and commentators are still missing his unequivocal message.”

“Russia clearly interfered in the 2016 presidential election.”

“The lack of urgency and attention to that interference remains, in many ways, the real scandal. That applies to a president who continues to describe that interference as a hoax… And it applies to a Congress that’s been unable to mount a united front to prevent future interference.”

Trump Slams ‘Highly Conflicted’ Mueller

May 30, 2019 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump tweeted that he “had nothing to do with Russia helping me get elected” while slamming special counsel Robert Mueller again.

Tweeted Trump: “The Greatest Presidential Harassment in history. After spending $40,000,000 over two dark years, with unlimited access, people, resources and cooperation, highly conflicted Robert Mueller would have brought charges, if he had ANYTHING, but there were no charges to bring!”

Axios: “While it’s not the first time Trump has admitted that Russia interfered in 2016, it’s the first time Trump has stated it could have helped him win.”

Nikki Haley Has a Book Coming

May 30, 2019 at 8:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Out this fall: With All Due Respect by Nikki Haley.

Pelosi Swats Away Impeachment Again

May 30, 2019 at 7:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi, brushing off new comments by Robert Mueller and 2020 Democratic hopefuls, feels as strongly as ever that impeaching President Trump would be a ‘fool’s errand,'” a top ally told Axios.

“Pelosi remains defiant, despite growing calls from fellow Democrats to plunge quickly into impeachment.”

“Ironically, Pelosi is leading the charge against impeachment while GOP Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan is leading the charge for it.”

Bond Market Is Giving Ominous Warnings

May 30, 2019 at 7:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Most significant, the fall in longer-term bond yields has not been matched by a fall in shorter-term rates. For example, a 30-day Treasury bill is yielding 2.35 percent — meaning you can earn more on your money tying it up for a month risk-free than you can tying it up for a full decade.”

“This is not normal. It is called an inverted yield curve, and historically it has been viewed as a sign of a recession in the offing. At a minimum, it indicates that bond investors believe the Federal Reserve will soon need to cut interest rates — in effect, that it overshot with those four rate increases last year.”

Democrats Prepare for First Debate

May 30, 2019 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Qualifying for the first Democratic presidential debate was the easy part. Now comes the challenge of preparing for it. With the first debate in Miami now less than a month away, at least half-dozen major candidates have begun to block out time or lighten their schedules to prepare.”

“In telephone calls and conference rooms, advisers are peppering them with potential questions. The candidates are practicing tightening their answers, cognizant of the seven to 10 minutes of total speaking time they expect to be allotted. And they are watching clips of the 2016 Republican presidential primary debates to familiarize themselves with the dynamics of debating on a crowded stage.”

Washington Heard Two Different Things from Mueller

May 30, 2019 at 6:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “At long last, the sphinx of Washington spoke on Wednesday, and here is what President Trump heard: ‘Case closed.’ Here is what the president’s adversaries heard: ‘Time to impeach.'”

“The much-anticipated public debut of Robert Mueller as special counsel proved as polarizing and unsatisfying as almost everything else about the two-year investigation he led into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election in support of Mr. Trump’s candidacy.”

Misjudging Mueller

May 30, 2019 at 6:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “At the end of the day, all Robert Mueller really did was reiterate what was in Volume II of his report: He wasn’t allowed to indict the president for anything, so the special counsel’s office didn’t consider it. To the extent that he leaned into the idea of impeachment, all he did was note the fact that it was up to others — i.e., Congress — to figure that out.”

“Maybe Robert Mueller is exactly who we thought he was: someone who follows rules to the letter, and views his mission in the narrowest terms possible. And maybe folks on the left are investing too much of their hopes in a guy who just doesn’t want the entire weight of American democracy on his shoulders — and never has.”

The Atlantic: “Wednesday’s press conference was consistent with Mueller’s image as a classic just-the-facts-ma’am G-man, a persona that frustrates anti-Trump partisans who dreamed of him as an avenging superhero.”

New Israeli Elections Complicate Peace Plan

May 30, 2019 at 6:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “For the White House, the political breakdown presents a significant challenge to the rollout of President Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, was scheduled to touch down Wednesday night in the midst of Israel’s political maelstrom ahead of talks with Israeli officials about the economic component of the peace proposal.”

China Puts Soy Purchases On Hold

May 30, 2019 at 6:26 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg: “China, the world’s largest soybean buyer, has put purchases of American supplies on hold after the trade war between Washington and Beijing escalated.”

“State-grain buyers haven’t received any further orders to continue with the so-called goodwill buying and don’t expect that to happen given the lack of agreement in trade negotiations, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private.”

Roy Moore Hits Back At Trump

May 29, 2019 at 9:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A defiant Roy Moore brushed aside Donald Trump’s warning not to run for Senate again, telling Politico on Wednesday that Alabama voters are capable of deciding for themselves whether he’s fit for office.

Said Moore: “The president doesn’t control who votes for the United States Senate in Alabama. People in Alabama are smarter than that. They elect the senator from Alabama, not from Washington, D.C.”

White House Ordered USS John McCain Moved

May 29, 2019 at 7:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to move “out of sight” a warship named for the late Sen. John McCain, a war hero who became a frequent target of President Trump’s ire, ahead of the president’s visit to Japan last week, according to an email reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

“A tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of the president’s trip… and sailors were directed to remove any coverings from the ship that bore its name. After the tarp was taken down, a barge was moved closer to the ship, obscuring its name. Sailors on the ship, who typically wear caps bearing its name, were given the day off during Mr. Trump’s visit.”

Energy Dept Rebrands Fossil Fuels as ‘Freedom Gas’

May 29, 2019 at 7:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Guardian: “America is the land of freedom, as any politician will be happy to tell you. What you don’t hear quite so often is that the stuff under the land is also apparently made of freedom as well. That is, at least according to a news release this week from the Department of Energy.”

“Mark W Menezes, the US undersecretary of energy, bestowed a peculiar honorific on our continent’s natural resources, dubbing it ‘freedom gas’ in a release touting the DoE’s approval of increased exports of natural gas.”

Pelosi Slow Walks New NAFTA Deal

May 29, 2019 at 7:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi is resisting pressure from the Trump administration to quickly approve an updated North American trade deal and is telling lawmakers and union officials that a planned study of the agreement could drag on well into the fall,” the New York Times reports.

Chyron of the Day

May 29, 2019 at 7:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment